Customer Reviews

Benjamin Graham on Value Investing: Lessons from the Dean of Wall Street

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is basically Graham's life story, with a curious emphasis on his alleged "womanizing" and macho attitude -- that were quite typical of the era yet seem to fascinate and repel the author no end (whereas I, for one, am totally disinterested).

Still, the book would be OK if it was entitled something like "The Life and Times of Benjamin Graham".

But calling it "Benjamin Graham on Value Investing" is in my opinion a misrepresentation.

I would say there are less than 10 pages' worth of "lessons from the dean of Wall Street", barely skimmed, and scattered all over the book.

For readers who are not yet too serious about their investments, this may be a brief and painless introduction to the concept of value investing; but for my money, what little appears here of Graham's thinking was better explained and better organized in every other book by or about Graham that I've read, as well as most general textbooks on personal investment.

The adage "Don't judge a book by its cover" proves to be true for Janet Lowe's book about Ben Graham. In fact, after reading this book, the adage can be updated to "Don't judge a book by its cover, its subtitle, or its endorsements."

Let's start with the book's subtitle, "Lessons from the Dean of Wall Street." The subtitle makes it sound as if Ms. Lowe's book explains Mr. Graham's investment ideas. This impression is reinforced when you read the endorsements on the book's dust cover. There you'll find quotes from a handful of investment managers (including Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway and John Bogle of the Vanguard Group) that extol the virture of Mr. Graham's ideas and the importance of Ms. Lowe's book.

Ms. Lowe's book turns out to be biography that intersperses some of Mr. Graham's ideas throughout its 230 pages. More pages are devoted to information about Mr. Graham's mistresses than to details about his investment ideas. Thankfully, the book is a quick read.

From the extensive endnotes that appear at the end of the book, it's evident that Ms. Lowe spent a great deal of time researching her subject. Unfortunately, her presentation of this information needs a better structure and more focus.

The book jumps back and forth through time, often repeating information that had been discussed earlier. This happened so frequently that I had to pause several times to figure out if I was re-reading a section.

Worse yet, Ms. Lowe seems to get lost in this time warp herself. At one point, she tells us that Mr. Graham's son was in his early teens in the mid-1960's and then, two pages later, tells us that the same son enrolled at Berkeley in 1963. Unless the son was a child prodigy (and we're not told that he was), both pieces of information can't possibly be correct.

A biography should concentrate on its subject matter. In this case, that would be Benjamin Graham. However, Ms. Lowe loses this focus. Do I need to know that Mr. Buffet read Mr. Graham's The Intelligent Investor when Mr. Buffet was 19? Maybe. Do I have to be told this two more times? I don't think so. And in the second half of the book, she talks so much about Mr. Buffet that I almost forgot who the book was about.

Then there's the inconsequential information that she includes. While investigating a subject, the researcher is always going to uncover interesting facts. The writer's task is to determine which ones are essential for the story and which ones to reserve for cocktail conversation. Ms. Lowe doesn't make this distinction. While I was happy to read that one of Mr.Graham's distant relatives made so much money by investing with him that she was able to buy her condo for cash, this anecdote doesn't further our understanding of the man or his ideas. We already know that he was successful investor.

Another distraction is her use of subchapter headings. When they're used properly, they help organize the information that you're reading. In Ms. Lowe's book, they're used so haphazardly and some times so frequently (in some chapters, they're used after every third paragraph) that they lose any signficance that they might have had.

If you're an investor looking for detailed information about Mr. Graham's theories, Ms. Lowe's book isn't the one to read. Better choices would be either Mr. Graham's The Intelligent Investor or his Security Analysis written with David Dodd. If you're an investor looking for information about Graham's life outside of investing, you might find something in Ms. Lowe's book.

This book is near useless! Don't let the title fool you this book has near nothing to do with Graham's views on value investing. It is an extremly boring book on Ben's life, one which makes me have little or no respect for Ben as a person. I made the mistake of choosing this book hoping to pick up some tips and save a few bucks on the cover price, instead of buying the sure things (Intelligent Investor or Security Anaylsis). Those looking to be a value investor, this is one where there is little "value" in my opinion, and money would better be served somewhere else.

This is a good book of essays by Graham. If you just want some enjoyable reading, then the book is OK. On the other hand if you really want to find out about Graham's Value Investing tatics the I would suggest his Intellegent Investor. That should give you enough to make a dent.

Janet Lowe's book is a reasonable book that is easy to read. I agree with other critisms that have been made that the book spends too much time dealing with anecdotal information rather than discussing value investing. If you want a pseudo-biography, then this is okay, but all the useful stuff is available to the laymen in The Intelligent Investor already.

The book should be titled: Biography of Benjamin Graham. For those who are interested in his life, this book is for you, but if you want to learn about value investing, then just read author's other books.

Graham's commandments:

1. Be an investor, not a speculator.
2. Understand the difference between price and value.
3. Rake the market for bargains.
4. Buy the Graham formula.
5. Regard corporate figures with suspicion.
6. Don't expect every decision to be perfect.
7. Smart investing does not require higher math.
8. Rule #1: Diversify with stocks and bonds.
9. Rule #2: Diversify with a wide variety of stocks.
10. When in doubt, stick to quality.
11. Dividends provide a clue.
12. Defend your shareholder rights.
13. Be patient.
14. Think for yourself.

- Mariusz Skonieczny, author of Why Are We So Clueless about the Stock Market? Learn how to invest your money, how to pick stocks, and how to make money in the stock market

Wall Street really does have a culture of its own, a history, its heros. Graham was one of them. Good book about his life, his philosophy, investment record, and the impact he had on the big investors of today, Warren Buffett the star among them. Entertaining story.

If you think you're going to get an overview of Ben Graham's value investing ideas, then you should be looking elsewhere. This book is more of a biography, with a little bit of value investing thrown in. If you're interested in the life of Ben Graham (where he grew up, how he started his business, how he met David Dodd and Warren Buffett, how many wives he had, including his own son's lover, etc.), then this is the book for you.

I would not read this book again. There's nothing of any value in here.

I loved it. I almost did't buy the book based on the other reviews saying it was a life story of Benjamin Graham.

Then I thought, I really believe in the ideas in "The Intelligent Investor", and "Securities Analysis". And I read them, and I do believe in these value investing ideas. I want the back-story too.

I consider it a strong biography. Well worth your time.

Brad Gillespie

I highly recommend "Benjamin Graham on Value Investing: Lessons from the Dean of Wall Street", a biography by Janet Lowe.

Benjamin Graham practically invented the securities analysis profession. He literally wrote their book, "Security Analysis" first published in 1934 - still in print after multiple updates.

Graham's even more popular book, "The Intelligent Investor" brought the value investing concept to individual investors; In that work Graham popularized terms that remain core to value investing; "intrinsic value", "margin of safety", and "Mr. Market". Warren Buffet called "The Intelligent Investor" the best book on investing he ever read.

Janet Lowe's treatment of Graham's life and his life's work is interesting, easy to read, and presents Graham's core investing principles in simple terms.

I enjoyed "Benjamin Graham on Value Investing" and I also learned a good bit from it.

Benjamin Graham on Value Investing: Lessons from the Dean of Wall Street
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